| It went from a hard-scrabble mining town to a forgotten city to a hippie hangout. And then, 10 years ago, some wealthy Europeans bought it, renovated it into a world-class resort, and made it a private playground for the rich. To go there, you had to rent out the entire town, which cost slightly more than the average J.Lo divorce settlement. But that's changing. Dunton Hot Springs is less exclusive now. You don't have to be a duke of one of those small European border countries to get in.
There are day-packages where you can show up for lunch and a soak in the luxurious hot springs and only feel like a duchess of Liechtenstein without actually being one. All it takes is a reservation.
Look at me. I count my net-worth in grocery store coupons, yet there I was in Dunton, treading on the bear skin rugs, dipping a toe in a sulfur pool, swinging in a rainbow hammock near the gurgling hot springs, and sitting down to lunch in an ancient saloon. All of this might make you a little suspicious. Has Dunton slipped? After all, they didn't let any old plebe into the Baths of Diocletian until Rome was declining and falling. I share the suspicions of Groucho Marx, who said, “I would never visit any resort that would have me as a guest, unless that resort served really terrific roasted tomato soup.”
Luckily for us, Dunton serves a roasted tomato soup that will melt your nervous system. At lunch, chef Doug Glenn served an organic spinach and arugula salad with basil vinaigrette; then came homemade wheat bread, that mind-bending tomato soup, then crispy-gooey ricotta-tomato tarts sprinkled with parmesan. With sun streaming through the windows, local couples from Grand Junction and Ophir sat with me and ate and talked about names for babies they didn't yet have and about how commitment and marriage had been so healthy for their relationships. Then Glenn brought out fresh cookies with white chocolate chips and powdered sugar, and suddenly no one could talk anymore. The cookies were too succulent for us to speak.
Dunton hasn't slipped. Now that
it’s embracing its populist past,
Dunton is bigger than ever. It
was on the cover of Outside
Magazine last year, and on the
front of the New York Times’
travel section this winter.
Lunch and a soak is just $60, with a 20 percent discount for locals. There's also dinner and fly-fishing and a 4x4 mountain tour. Call 970-882-4800 for reservations. (Dukes and duchesses of European border countries are still welcome.)
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